The Fire
by Alanna Bennett from Cleveland High School
Published in the 2006-2007 WITS Anthology Mostly What I’m Made Of

Although it did not look it, the fire was usually calm. It flickered and flared dazzlingly, and the family never felt any threat from it. The fire loved them, protected them, and kept them warm against the biting cold outside the walls of the cabin. The fire watched over the family as if they were his own. They were all he had ever known. Their hearth had been his birthplace. There was a mutual affection between the family and the fire. But nothing stays perfect forever.

One day water invaded, in the form of fog and ice. The family would disappear soon on an adventure, seeking escape from this land of frost. But the fire did not want the family to leave. He leapt out of the fireplace in an attempt to save the life he loved, landing on the pages of an open book.

He found himself growing rapidly, and grew frightened as he realized that he could not control it. Soon his dazzling flames lashed up as high as the mantel, and he spread to the hard wood floor. A great sadness overtook him as he bid farewell to the family, the cabin, and his home.